YYZ1313

1. Domestic flights in Iceland use the domestic airport in Reykjavik so you'd have to head there anyway.
2. I went in September 2020. First test at their airport I took at around 1PM and got the results at 11PM. Second test only took 5-6 hours.
3. I went to a testing site in Reykjavik but you could get a appointment in other cities.

Covid.is will give you more information. Anyway, they plan to drop the test on arrival for fully vaxxed tourists in July I think.

mixmastermark

fredc84 / or anyone who's recently visited Iceland:

Was the PCR test administered on arrival at KEF airport:

1. the deep nasopharyngeal swab (aka brain tickler)
or
2. shallow nostril / throat swab

Just curious which one it was.

Thanks!

fredc84

1. I think they want people to isolate once they leave the airport until they get their results, but they don't really track it. We went to our hotel in Kef and waited there (we slept anyway, since we had the over night flight and needed the sleep). Not sure of the legality of catching a connecting flight from KEF after your test.
2. Yes, in both cases (arrival and the day prior to our US return) we got your results about 5 hours after the test. Notified by text but also got the form from the testing company via email.
3. There are 7 or 8 sites around the country, I believe Since we were going to be in Reyk a couple of days prior to returning home, I only looked up that site.

atcanobbio

Thank you both.

1. I actually fly there June 27th. I'm flying ORD-CPH-KEF with an overnight connection in CPH. So i'm guessing they will still have a test requirement on arrival. fredc84 do officials in the airport ask for quarantine location info? Just in case they want to track you? I wonder if car rental agencies or airport check in would ask for negative test of arrival test. any idea?

3. so I'm still trying to figure out my plan. Initially, i was thinking, I land in KEF, take bus to Reykjavik domestic airport, then fly to EGS (in the east). Pick up car there, get tested in Reyk, return car in KEF. But i'm thinking now of just picking up car in KEF when I arrive (if they let me pick up car while covid test is processing), then return in EGS. If I do this, I'd have to find a clinic or something in the south or east where I can get tested in order to use it to fly back to US. I have been searching the covid.is site for testing locations, they mention some but websites do not clearly talk about covid tests and how to book an appt. Was it easy for you two to book an appt?

YYZ1313

You should be asked about your quarantine plan upon arrival but I guess it depends who you talk to. If they suspect your vaccination record or your quarantine plan are not valid, they may force you to get a test upon arrival, quarantine for 5 days at a hotel and take a second test before you're free. I think you should spend the first night in Reykjavik to be safe.

You need to register on Covid.is to book an appt. You just give a phone number to confirm, you'll be able to see testing sites and book online. Easy peasy. I did my test in Reykjavik. Process was quick and easy. You just wait in line, show them your bar code with ID, take the test and you're done.

fredc84

As far as 1), we got out of the terminal, went to the small building outside to get swabbed, left that and got in a taxi to our hotel. The only interaction with any type of official was the nurse who took the swab. Not sure if anyone else has had more stringent contact than we did.

For 3) I have no idea how to advise you on that.

Out of my Element

Microcar in the Westfjords sounds like a risky plan to me. Some really bad roads there to high quality must see sites

travelmad478

We’ll give it a shot. Worst case, we turn back at Husavik and head back down Rtes. 61-60 toward the West.

Out of my Element

So you know, there are multiple Husavik's in Iceland. The one most folks are familiar with is near Akureyri and is a decent sized fishing village. The one in the WestFjords (that I didn't know existed until 2 minutes ago) doesn't even have a street sign, never mind a town, so don't expect to see much there.

The bad roads are the ones that take you to the coolest places in the WF, like Krossneslaug and Latrabjarg and even to Dynjandi. You need ground clearance to get to there. The areas along 60 and 61 are cool, but not particularly better than the "mainland". I also read on TripAdvisor this week that one of them (I think it was 60) was under construction and was a real "mud bog" and the writer was surprised they were allowed to proceed.

travelmad478

Yes, I mean the Húsavík in the Westfjords along Rte. 68 (home of the Sheep Farming Museum, according to Google Maps!). Our plan is to drive into the Westfjords that way after spending the previous night in Hofsos. If the roads up to that point are truly terrible, then we’ll turn southward there onto Rte. 61 and escape.

Thanks for the warnings—definitely will take that under advisement. We’ll play it by ear depending on what kind of car we end up with and what the roads look like by the end of July when we get to that point. I am actually pretty used to driving on terrible roads (for one thing, I live in New Orleans 😂 and I’ve also done a lot of driving in developing countries) so I might have a higher tolerance.

fredc84

This is the road I was referring to up thread. It was probably the worst road I've ever driven on. I don't think people would be allowed to drive on a road like it in the US.

travelmad478

Do you remember which section of the road that was (like, between which towns)?

fredc84

For sure between where the 62 (in the west branches from the 60) to the 61 (since we took 61 to go to N Iceland). There's a town called Kinnarstađir on the east section of that road and I want to say it was somewhere around there. The construction section was not on the water and I remember thinking we were getting out of the Westfjords when we ran into it. We didn't go through there on the way in because we took the ferry across from Stykkisholmur.

travelmad478

Excellent, that is good to know. We can hit that section on our way in and turn around if it's too harrowing.

Out of my Element

Ah yes, that's it.

Problem in Iceland is the 'alternate route' is often an extra 100 miles due to the lack of alternative options